UFC 99 - The Comeback Countdown Recap

The hype before the weigh-ins. If you have DirecTV, it's on channel 101 right now. They're not calling it "The Comeback" - they're calling it "Silva v. Franklin." I suppose it really doesn't matter since technically it's both.

Franklin: "You've got two guys who are willing to light some fireworks for the crowd." Rogan: "Two former champions who are desperately in need of a win." UFC narrator: "An up-and-coming heavyweight tests his mettle against one of the best." Rogan: "If he wins he moves to the front of the line." Kongo: "He'll have to wait. I want to be first." Narrator: "And two free swinging welterweights let it all hang out." Swick: "He's in over his head." Narrator: "Former UFC middleweight champ Rich Franklin faces former PRIDE middleweight champ Wanderlei Silva. Top heavyweight contender Chieck Kongo challenges undefeated phenom Cain Velasquez. And top welterweight Mike Swick goes toe to toe with muay thai machine Ben Saunders. The countdown to UFC 99 starts now!"

Dana White says that despite all the problems with guys dropping off the card, it's actually gotten better. He's excited about Kongo and Velasquez, he's been keeping in touch with Mirko Cro Cop via text (seriously) and he's happy to bring him back. Rogan: "Wanderlei Silva is just a psychopath. He doesn't have the nickname Axe Murderer because he's willing to go out there and bob and weave. It's the perfect nickname for him - GUARANTEED VIOLENCE." White: "He's either knocking you out or getting knocked out." Silva: "Win or lose, I love the fight, I love the crowd."

Franklin is also put over as a very popular fighter. This is interesting - Franklin seems to be claiming the only reason he lost to Hendo in their last fight was a couple of headbutts. His training partner also claims the eyepoke stopped him from finishing Hendo off and the doctor wanted to stitch his eye up. Everybody says he was really angry at losing the split decision. Narrator: "He'll take out all his frustration on June 13th."

The narrator notes that Rich Franklin is moving up in weight to fight at light heavyweight, whereas Silva is dropping down FROM light heavyweight, which is why they agreed to fight at a catchweight of 195. (We'll see if they made it at the weigh-ins immediately after this recap). Silva puts over Franklin as a complete fighter with good takedowns and kicks, but notes he has faults that can be exposed, including his vulnerability to the muay thai clinch. In fact he says he wants to finish Franklin the same way Anderson Silva did. Matt Hume (Franklin's MMA coach) says if you stay in the pocket with Wanderlei and don't have good timing, it's going to be really bad news. Wanderlei promises to make up for his last loss and comeback with a win, and we go to commercial.

When we come back, we see that Franklin is now training with the man who took his title and stopped him twice - Anderson Silva! Apparently Anderson has a long-standing grudge with Wanderlei going back to the Chute Boxe days. Apparently Anderson even blamed Wanderlei for ensuring he didn't get booked often enough in PRIDE because of the fact he left Chute Boxe to train on his own. Wanderlei: "I don't know what's happened to him. In his interviews, his ego, maybe he thinks he's the best in the world." Rogan says Anderson doesn't like the fact he's dropping to 185 and considers it disrespect. Wanderlei: "The guys who fight him don't hit him. I'm going to punch him in the face." Franklin says Anderson Silva and his manager CALLED HIM just to show him how to beat Wanderlei. They trained for three straight weeks at Anderson Silva's gym with no cameras allowed inside. Rogan and everyone else on the hype special put this over as brilliant, saying no one understands how Wanderlei trains, spars and fights better than a guy who used to be his teammate.

Dana White is excited about the prospect of this whole thing pissing both guys off so much we could see a Silva v. Silva fight in the future. First though Wanderlei has to get past Franklin, which Franklin ensures won't happen. Cain Velasquez v. Cheick Kongo will be previewed after this commercial break.

White: "Chieck Kongo jumps in last minute, takes this fight against a young up-and-coming machine." Rogan: "Cain Velasquez is the real deal." One of his training partners puts him over as the best EVER to come out of the American Kickboxing Academy. "He knows his roots, he's Mexican, and he's very proud of that." Velasquez: "I'm proud of what my parents did to get here, and provide a better life for us." Efrain Velasquez - Cain's dad - is interviewed. "It was always tough leaving the family, but it was just something I had to do to provide." Cain: "I like to believe I got my work ethic from him." We're reminded he was an all-american at Arizona State. Velasquez notes that wrestling was never enough for him. The AKA guys note that he picked up boxing defense and striking incredibly quick. "We were having a hard time getting him fights after the first two fights." "We had six guys back out." "It was time to get him in the big leagues." White: "Crazy Bob Cook had been terrorizing me. He said you've got to see this guy, he's the future of the division." He made his UFC debut in April of 2008, getting a first round TKO in Montreal. We get a replay of the merciless beating he laid on Jake O'Brien as well, then see his TKO victory over Stojnic this year that moved him to 5-0. Kongo up next after commercial.

"On April 18th, Cheick Kongo knocked out the dangerous Antoni Hardonk in the second round. A month later, Kongo was asked to replace the injured Heath Herring at UFC 99 - in three weeks." The Wolfslair teammates put over his big balls to accept the fight on short notice. Kongo: "Alright, let's do this." Muay thai coach: "He doesn't drink, he doesn't party, he just wants the belt, that's it." Kongo: "It's like a quest." He compiled a 7-2-1 record through 2006 before being brought in by UFC, winning his debut at UFC 61. He fought again only six weeks later, defeating Christian Wellisch. We see his victory over Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 75, which is described as "raising his profile" in the U.S. I consider every knockout he's had lately as raising his profile myself. Commercial.

Interestingly we get a preview of "The Wrestler" during the break, available now in HD on DirecTV.

White: "A year and a half ago people were talking about how bad the heavyweight division was. Now it's never looked better." Bob Cook: "It's a serious step up in competition for Cain, and we're looking forward to it." Velasquez: "I know I can beat those guys and get to the top." Zach Light: "We're in Cologne, Germany which is right next to France, so everybody's going to be cheering for Cheick from the start." Rogan: "Cheick Kongo is the real deal - big, tall, strong, and a vicious ground and pound. He will put Cain to the test." Dave Camarillo: "The best thing to do is disguise your intentions and Cain is a master of that." Sean Salmon: "Cheick is superior on his feet, striking and kicking." SEAN SALMON?!?!! How did this guy get any screen time?! Back to Wolfslair: "Cheick is going to be tough to take down." Neto: "If you want to take him down there's a knee to the face, a kick to the head." Kongo: "If you fight against me you're going to fight like a man. We play in a big playground, but this playground is mine. I'm going to kick his ass. It's just business. He's not my friend, he's not my family member, I don't care. That's my enemy. If he wants to touch me, there is going to be war." More footage of both, more comments from both camps. Commercial.

The next fighter to be put over is Mirko Cro Cop. Rogan: "Right leg hospital, left leg cemetary. One shot, BOOM, go to sleep. That's his style." Narrator transitions us to Saunders and Swick. We see Swick's quick victory over Goulet. Saunders is 3-0 in UFC and his last fight lasted less than two minutes. Swick: "He's gonna come out there and try to kill me. That's what I want." Saunders: "I'm not Goulet. I won't stand there and just get hit." Swick: "I think Ben Saunders is in over his head. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes." Saunders: "If he's not bleeding by the end of the first round, we have a problem." These guys are doing a great job of hyping their fight for the limited amount of time they're getting in the Countdown special. The show ends at 5:53 CST EST. 7 minutes to the weigh-ins!

I'm not sure why, but if there's one thing I've learned from being at a half-dozen or more UFC shows, it's that the Countdown specials always feel more energetic when you're sitting in the ballroom or the arena waiting for the fighters to come out for the weigh-ins... but stay tuned for our recap of that in just minutes!